Patriots’ improved run game has Tom Brady impressed

FOXBORO, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is enjoying life on the run.

“Last week, we just did a great job of running the ball,” Brady said Wednesday. “The line played so physical. It was awesome to watch.”

Over the course of the past two weeks, Brady’s been the highest-paid spectator in a couple of places — Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium and Gillette Stadium alike.

Arm rest

After attempting 52 and 55 passes in the Patriots’ first two games in the month of December, the quarterback threw a combined 50 times in the team’s 41-7 and 34-20 wins over the Ravens and the Buffalo Bills, respectively.

After completing 29 passes or more in nearly half (six) of the first 14 games of the regular season, Brady completed a total of 28 passes over the last two.

Averaging 41.3 pass attempts through the first 14 games of the regular season, Brady has averaged 25 in the last two.

Averaging 289.2 yards passing through 14 games, Brady has thrown for a total of 294 in the last two.

That tends to happen when a team is pounding the ball on the ground, as the Patriots have done, to the tune of 77 times for 409 yards over the course of two games.

It is that type of productivity in the rushing game that could come in handy for a team playing playoff football in the northeast region of this country as the Patriots will be doing when they kick off their postseason in Foxboro against either Cincinnati, Indianapolis or Kansas City in an AFC divisional-round matchup at 8:15 p.m. on Jan. 11.

“Anything can happen in these games,” Brady said. “I’ve been a part of a lot of them and you never know what’s going to happen and how the game’s going to play out.

“You always have an idea on what you think you need, but everything’s on the line so whatever we need to do to win, and if it’s handing off 70 times then that’s what we’ve got to do. If they’re having a problem stopping it, then we’ve got to be good enough to take advantage of that and vice versa if that’s throwing the ball. Whatever they’re having a tough time defending, that’s what you’ve got to be able to get to. It’s important not be one dimensional in these games.”

Part of the plan

While the Patriots haven’t been one dimensional, they have been more reliant on their running attack of late, but then, when a team is averaging 5.3 yards per carry as it’s done over the last two games, a span that’s featured a 189-yard, two-touchdown performance by AFC Offensive Player of the Week LeGarrette Blount, what is it to do?

“To end the game like that (last Sunday against the Bills) and to rush the way we did, to rush the way we ended the game against Baltimore (in the previous week’s romp over the Ravens) was just awesome,” Brady said. “I haven’t been a part of that in a long time because we’ve just got a very physical offensive line and backs that run really hard.

“That’s hard to defend, especially over the course of a game and hopefully you can wear the other team out by making them tackle you, making them stop you, making them figure it out, and make them come up and want to hit you in the face. I think our team’s done a good job of that. Our offensive line has done a great job all year of that. Our backs are really feeding off that and that’s been a big strength for us.

“It needs to continue to be a strength,” he continued, “and hopefully that opens up other areas of our offense that once you’re doing something really well then they’ve got to focus on it, then maybe you can do some other things really well off of that.”